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    • The Joy of Dowsing

      by Richard Webster

      (Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

      Dowsing is the art of finding something that is hidden, usually something concealed underground. Dowsing is most commonly used for water divining, but there appear to be virtually no limits to the number of applications it can be used for. Over the years I have dowsed for water, minerals, arrow shards, oil, lost objects, and even a parking space in the central city.

      I learned how to dowse when I was ten or eleven-years-old. Every year, our family rented a holiday home at a beach resort. We were having lunch one day when a crowd of people gathered on our front lawn. We went outside to see what was going on. A man, holding a forked stick, had wandered onto our property, followed by a group of people who had no idea what he was doing. Our next-door-neighbor asked the man what he wanted. "Water," he replied. She fetched him a glass of water. This broke the man's spell. He was embarrassed, and quickly left without answering any questions. My father missed the excitement as he was out fishing. We spent all afternoon on the beach waiting for him to return home so we could tell him about the strange experience. Much to our surprise, he knew who the man was. He invited him back the next day and over the following few days the man taught almost everyone at the beach resort how to dowse.

      I, and my friends, found it easy to dowse, but our parents found it much harder to get started. Of course, they had no problems either, once they had experienced the dowsing response. I have noticed over the years that children are usually better than adults at picking up skills such as dowsing, as they have yet to gain the skeptical attitudes of adulthood.

      Some people are able to dowse with their hands, but most people find it easier to learn the art using angle rods, a forked stick or a pendulum. Angle rods are probably the most useful tool to start with, as the movements they create are easy to see and interpret. My first angle rods were made from two wire coat hangers, but any wire will do. You need two pieces of wire, eighteen to twenty-four inches long. Bend the wire into an L-shape. One side needs to be about six inches long, leaving twelve to eighteen inches for the longer side. The longer the long side is, the more noticeable the dowsing response will be. However, you will become tired more easily with longer rods.

      Hold the angle rods loosely in your fists with the longer section of the wire pointing straight ahead. Your arms should be relaxed, and your hands should be approximately your body width apart. The two rods should be parallel to each other. It is a good idea to practice walking with the rods, so that you get used to the feel of them, before starting to dowse. Keep your eyes focussed on the tips of the rods as you walk. The rods are likely to move slightly from side to side as you do this. The dowsing response, which starts shortly before you are directly over the item you are dowsing for, is a marked and distinct movement of the rods. Your rods will cross over each other, sometimes ending up parallel to each other in front of your body.

      Once you have become used to walking with the angle rods, it is time to start dowsing. A good first test is to go outdoors and use the angle rods to find the water pipe leading into your home. Think about locating the water pipe, but remain as relaxed as possible. Any tension will prevent the angle rods from moving. A few deep breaths before starting helps eliminate any tension. Start walking slowly across the front of your property. Feel confident that the angle rods will work for you, and will ultimately cross over each other, when you are directly over the pipe. If you feel skeptical about the whole process, try to suspend disbelief. The best results occur when you are quietly confident of success, and maintain a feeling of positive expectancy while you are dowsing.

      If the rods produce the dowsing response by crossing over each other, make a mental note of the spot where this occurred. Keep on walking across the property, and then turn around and walk back again, this time about a yard away from where you walked before. The rods should produce the same response again when you are over the water pipe.

      Many people are successful the first time they attempt this exercise. Others need to practice to achieve success. The most common problem I have found is that many people grip the wire too tightly, and this naturally prevents it from moving. If this appears to be the case, place the short sides of your angle rods inside short pieces of plastic tubing. The plastic casings from ball point pens work well for this. You can grip these as tightly as you wish, without affecting the free movement of the angle rods. Most dowsers find it hard to locate still water. Moving water is easier to detect. Consequently, if you find it hard to locate the water pipe, turn on a faucet for a couple of minutes to get the water moving.

      Your first dowsing session should be no longer than thirty minutes. Several brief sessions will produce much better results than one long session. Dowsing requires concentration, and it can be draining, both mentally and physically. Once this occurs, your results will become erratic, and you will start making mistakes. Even professional dowsers pause every now and again to avoid this.

      Children make excellent dowsers, but adults often make it more difficult than it should be. The best advice is to relax, and allow the dowsing response to occur. There is no need to fight, or help, the dowsing response. Relax, focus on your goal, remain slightly detached, and allow it to happen. Dowsing is a skill well worth mastering, and you will find many uses for it.

      Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2003. All rights reserved.

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    • DOUBLE VISION: DREAMS OF A FATHER-LIKE SPIRIT?

      dream-interpretation-2

      I have been feeling someone lifting/standing up from my bed. I am not sure who it is, but I feel it is either my dad or my father-in-law, both of whom are in spirit. I think they are trying to tell me something. I have tried to connect with my dad, but have made no progress. I have seen him in my dreams: I am at the top of the stairs and he is at the bottom, but I can’t seem to make out what he is trying to say. I just don’t know how to connect with him and wanted to know the best way to go about this. Could you please help me out? Thank you!

      Debbie

      Dreamchaser:

      The people we most want to talk to when they pass over are our parents, Debbie. Unfortunately, they are often the people we have the hardest time hearing. I see this sort of situation over and over – even with myself! When my daddy died, I so wanted to talk to him, but I could not hear him. It is not just you, Debbie!

      You will not like this answer, but when the time is right and everyone is strong enough, you will be able to communicate with him. I can only speak from my own personal experience: My daddy popped up one day when I was driving down the road alone in my car. It was approximately two years after he had passed. I smelled cigar smoke and I heard (in my mind, not in the car), “Hi.” I actually looked over expecting to see him there. I did not, of course. Again he said, “Hi.” I said, “Hey, daddy!”

      You see, my daddy used to have me drive him places and he would sit in the passenger seat, smoking a cigar and then sleeping. When he would wake up, he would look around, get his bearings, look over at me and say, “Hi.” I can now hear his voice in my mind and talk back to him, but I have not seen his form or heard his voice outside of my head. In most cases, that is how the communicating is done between all spirits and humans on earth. Hollywood misled us into believing that we actually see them walking into the room and speaking to us outside of our bodies. That is not usually reality.

      You can also pray and ask for divine help in your connection with loved ones in spirit. When one passes over, they must learn how to become spirit again. Sometimes that is a fast process, and sometimes it takes a while. If you pray and ask for help, sometimes a higher being will come and intercede on your behalf and help get that spirit back across the veil to this side to communicate with you. I have heard tell that crossing the veil between the two worlds is hard for some who have recently passed over.

      I want you to consider the relationship you have with someone on the other side as the world was before the Internet, e-mail and unlimited long distance. When most of us were growing up, we would have to write a letter to someone, mail it and then wait for his or her response. Oh, and kids, this one will kill you: We would have to get up and cross the room to change the channel, and we only had three to choose from. We are used to instant everything these days.

      Our loved ones get our letters, and they will write back. It just takes time.

      I wish you fruitful conversations.

      *****

      Astrea:

      It must be frustrating to see your dad and not understand exactly what he’s trying to say to you. I believe you’re right: He is trying to communicate with you. I think that you’re on stairs is probably the most significant aspect of this dream or vision that you’re having of him. That you are separated by some kind of distance isn’t unusual, since you’re just beginning to see him on a regular basis. The stairs in your dream are a representation of how you are separated from him in life, since he is beyond the veil in spirit. The stairs represent the barrier between the two worlds, ours and the world after.

      I feel that your dad is trying to tell you climb higher in your life. Are you achieving all your goals and dreams? By being below you on that staircase, your dad is saying that you are already climbing higher than he did while he was alive, and he is there to encourage you to keep striving and moving forward to make your own dreams come true. He’s not trying to warn you of anything; he just wants to encourage you on your way to happiness. He wants you to know that he is still there, still with you, and that you’re going to achieve great things in your life – things that he was only able to dream about doing when he was alive and on the earth plane.

      The bed shaking is different. That’s your father-in-law doing that! He has a big, expansive, fun personality, and he liked to shake things up when he was alive too. Try to pay attention when he does this to you, so that you can link it to some kind of waking event related to your own life or your children or your husband. My guess would be that he is particularly watching over one of your children or a child-to-be, and that he’s eager for that child to notice and see him too. Even though he wasn’t a blood relative to you in this life, he felt closer and more comfortable with you than his son or anyone else in his own family. As time goes by, he’ll wake you and send you messages for those people he cared about.

      It is wonderful that you’re able to see and be with loved ones who have crossed over. I’m glad that you’re not afraid to explore what’s going on with them. Our loved ones want the best for us always, and yours seem to be doing extra duty to take care of you and your family. They must love you all very much. That kind of devotion is very rare and beautiful. Appreciate them and thank them for staying close by to help take care of you and your family. They’re hanging around because they want to – it’s a pleasure for them – but it’s still good manners to say thank-you!

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